Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Shakil Durrani visited Mirani Dam Project, located in Turbat district of Makran region in Balochistan province.
Balochistan Chief Secretary Ahmed Bakhsh Lehri and Provincial Secretaries for Irrigation and Agriculture also accompanied him during the visit. WAPDA Member (Water) Syed Raghib Abbas Shah, Managing Director (Administration) Naveed Akram Cheema, Secretary Imtiaz Tajwar and General Manager (South) Muhammad Javed were also present on the occasion.
The chairman said that in addition to executing mega projects, WAPDA is also constructing medium and small-sized dams throughout the country. This is being done in line with the Government’s resolve to uplift remote areas of the country socially and economically by providing water for agriculture and generating low-cost hydel electricity, he added.
Referring to the completion of Mirani Dam in 2007 by WAPDA, the chairman said that it is all the more important for the authorities concerned to develop a command area as early as possible, so that benefits of the project could be accrued. The matters related to completely handing over Mirani Dam Project to Balochistan Government within two years and command area development were also discussed during the visit.
The need for deploying additional bulldozers for land leveling by Balochistan Government was finalized on directions of the Chief Secretary. Earlier, the Chairman visited various components of project including main dam and irrigation system. It is pertinent to mention that WAPDA constructed Mirani Dam across the river Dasht, some 40 kilometers west of Turbat town. The gross storage capacity of the project is more than three lacs acre feet of water.
The command area of the project comprises of 33,200 acres of land if irrigated through conventional flood irrigation, which could be enhanced manifold if the latest irrigation techniques including drip and sprinkler are adopted. Besides Mirani Dam, WAPDA had also completed Sabak Zai Dam in Balochistan. New dams are also to be constructed by WAPDA in the province at Naulong, Hingol and Winder.
